Giordano and Brodie pairing turning into one of the league's best

[_Q_]

Definitely better than those two pairings for me. Regehr & Leopold couldn't put the puck in the net while Hamrlik & Phaneuf couldn't keep it out of their own net.

[Poe969]

Gio and Brodie look unreal. Much like Hiller, I didn't think they had it in them. Well I knew Gio had it in him but I wasn't sure if he could do it again. The guy is a treat to watch and I think he's the main reason for Brodie's success. They're both defensively responsible and at a point per game, they're clearly offensively capable. It sucks because they probably won't get the recognition they deserve because they aren't as flashy as some of the high offensive guys yet they're better defensively. These two make watching games even more fun.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Pointman

While it is nice to compare Giordano-Brodie with current best tandems, it is also interesting how they would be rated against some of the best duos Flames had in past. Probably a bit behind 2004 Regehr-Leopold, a bit better than Hamrlik-Phaneuf maybe.

I was thinking 2nd only to Suter-MacInnis. They are superb. I hope they keep it up all year.

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

I was thinking 2nd only to Suter-MacInnis. They are superb. I hope they keep it up all year.

MacInnis only played with Suter on the PP. He played with Frank Musil quite a bit.

[Heavy Jack]

Brodie-Gio seem to set the pace when our game is firing on all cylinders. These guys could turn into quite the tandem this year if they keep it up, I think they are playing with greater confidence too this year which can be attributed to our Goaltending situation IMO.

[Komskies]

You can tell Brodie is playing with insane amounts of confidence right now. He's all over the ice, making huge plays at both ends of the ice. He seems the be the first one up on the rush and the first one back.

[DoubleF]

114th overall + undrafted

Top tier pairing, one is a captain too.

Wow.

[Nme-Territory]

As good as Gio has been already this season, its Brodie I'm noticing in a positive way at both ends of the ice. Gio seems to put himself at the right place at the right time and is rewarded for it offensively, but it's Brodie that has looked like the real offensive-minded one in the duo. Brodie is playing the way we all wished Bouw would.

[Five-hole]

Originally Posted by Nme-Territory

As good as Gio has been already this season, its Brodie I'm noticing in a positive way at both ends of the ice. Gio seems to put himself at the right place at the right time and is rewarded for it offensively, but it's Brodie that has looked like the real offensive-minded one in the duo. Brodie is playing the way we all wished Bouw would.

Gio's wrister / snap shot from the top of the circles is deadly accurate.

[kirant]

Originally Posted by Nme-Territory

As good as Gio has been already this season, its Brodie I'm noticing in a positive way at both ends of the ice. Gio seems to put himself at the right place at the right time and is rewarded for it offensively, but it's Brodie that has looked like the real offensive-minded one in the duo. Brodie is playing the way we all wished Bouw would.

What interests me honestly is how underestimated Brodie is defensively. Most of the league at least recognizes and respects Giordano now but you'll see lots of players trying to chip the puck by Brodie and expect to beat him to the puck...only to find out Brodie is a really fast player and have the puck sent back up the ice almost instantly. I think I counted at least three or four instances last night where the Blackhawks thought of Brodie as nothing more than a pylon and it resulted in a quick turnover.

He, like Giordano in years past, is currently flying under the league's radar.

[AcGold]

How many teams have a pairing where both guys are amazing both offensively and defensively? The issue we have is there is a cavernous gap in skill between our top 2 and everyone else. We are a different team entirely when Brodie and Gio are off the ice. Hopefully one of Smid, Wotherspoon or Sieloff find a way to elevate themselves. We need at least one more guy that can be relied on.

[Bourque's Twin]

Originally Posted by AcGold

How many teams have a pairing where both guys are amazing both offensively and defensively? The issue we have is there is a cavernous gap in skill between our top 2 and everyone else. We are a different team entirely when Brodie and Gio are off the ice. Hopefully one of Smid, Wotherspoon or Sieloff find a way to elevate themselves. We need at least one more guy that can be relied on.

I think Russell is a great 2nd pairing kinda guy, and Smid plays the shutdown role quite well. We need Wideman to elevate his play to the same level as it was at the beginning of last season.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Bourque's Twin

I think Russell is a great 2nd pairing kinda guy, and Smid plays the shutdown role quite well. We need Wideman to elevate his play to the same level as it was at the beginning of last season.

Wideman's coming around. Not quickly but there were more than a few instances last night where the first half of last season Wideman showed up. May take a while but he looks like he'll get back there.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Wideman's coming around. Not quickly but there were more than a few instances last night where the first half of last season Wideman showed up. May take a while but he looks like he'll get back there.

Jarome Iginla was notoriously slow in the month of October, but picked it up afterwards.

I have a feeling that Wideman is going to be be playing solid hockey come January, assuming he doesn't get injured. Gio/Brodie will cool off a bit, and Russell and Wideman will both pickup the slack.

[Arya Stark]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Wideman's coming around. Not quickly but there were more than a few instances last night where the first half of last season Wideman showed up. May take a while but he looks like he'll get back there.

I still saw the same old Wideman last night in the defensive zone and making bad pinches in the offensive zone. I cringed whenever I saw him pinching or trying to win a battle along the boards.

He scored, which was awesome but I really don't think that makes his other boneheaded mistakes ok.

[Komskies]

I don't see Wideman coming around. He simply isn't skating at an NHL level anymore. He looks slower than Sarich out there. I'm not sure what happened in the last year but he cannot keep up with the game in the skating department anymore.

[Nme-Territory]

Originally Posted by Arya Stark

I still saw the same old Wideman last night in the defensive zone and making bad pinches in the offensive zone. I cringed whenever I saw him pinching or trying to win a battle along the boards.

He scored, which was awesome but I really don't think that makes his other boneheaded mistakes ok.

I agree that he should be playing better. It seems as though his head isn't quite in it yet. He isn't prepared for contact as much as he should be, resulting in him getting muscled off the puck or knocked down easily. However, I don't think he's been any worse than the remaining d-men not named Giordano, Brodie or Russell.

He should be better based on his salary and history, but for me he hasn't been cringe-worthy. Butler was cringe-worthy and I wouldn't bring Wideman down to that level... yet.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Arya Stark

I still saw the same old Wideman last night in the defensive zone and making bad pinches in the offensive zone. I cringed whenever I saw him pinching or trying to win a battle along the boards.

He scored, which was awesome but I really don't think that makes his other boneheaded mistakes ok.

Some may be forgetting that Widemans game was never about being defensively sound. In fact he's been more a defensive liability throughout his career than anything. He was brought in for his Offense and the hand he shoots.

Hand injuries play a major factor in his play and he's slowly coming around/rebounding finally form those injuries last year. He came back not fully healed for the second half of last year.

I'm not going to defend his defensive lapses, they're going to happen, but for the reason the Flames pay him what they do, he's coming back to form.

[AcGold]

I don't forget, but the thing is you can't just be good at shooting and then be a huge liability everywhere else. Terrible pinches, missed hipchecks, bad passes, slow skating. His negatives outweigh his positives, keeping him out of the lineup has to be a good thing as he hurts us.

Guys like Russell and Smid while lacking a complete game are smart. Smid angles guys to the outside and forces them to shoot from the perimeter and if he can't block the shot he tries not to screen. Wideman doesn't do that, he does the puck watching, get out of position thing that costs teams games. A large part of why we won last night is even though we got outshot atleast 40 of the shots were from the perimeter because Gio, Brodie, Smid and Russell angled the forwards to the perimeter. Those bad angle shots where the goalie can hug the post are easy to stop, just be a big wall and control the rebound. Wideman seems to not understand such simple game mechanics. Yes Wideman scored but in the long run he's going to lose us more games than he wins like he did last year, his missed hipchecks cost us atleast 3 or 4 games.

[C-ero]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

114th overall + undrafted

Top tier pairing, one is a captain too.

Wow.

Darryl Sutter is a god.